Eating Crow *Open Thread*

I have made no secret that before 2008 and becoming an Independent, I was a fierce, left-wing Democrat. When I look back now on some of the things I said about Republicans (including friends before I knew they were Republicans), the way I thought about them, and the way I accepted as Gospel the claims made by the DNC, I admit, I am embarrassed by my behavior. I am embarrassed at the blinders I had on, at the acceptance of arguments based not on logic but emotional manipulation or ad hominem attacks. As a Philosophy major for whom Logic was a favorite class, I knew better. And I knew better than to fall for the circular arguments that seemed to be the bread and butter of the Democrats then (and often, now).

So why the big mea culpa? Because this morning, I caught a segment on Fox and Friends of President Bush speaking back in 2007 about terrorism. Now, I hated NO ONE more than I hated President Bush. I bought that he was stupid (despite getting in to some pretty good schools), that he was an idiot, an ideologue, all with a fake Texas accent (never mind that he had lived there for decades – whatever). I bought all of it, hook, line, and sinker, every horrible thing that was said about him, laughed at the jokes, thought no one captured him like Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show,” was embarrassed when traveling abroad that he was our president and on and on. I am sure you get my point.

Now, I still don’t agree with everything he did or said, but I have to eat some crow now. As it turns out, President Bush was absolutely right when he made this claim about withdrawing the troops from Iraq prematurely (I was opposed to the war in Iraq, by the way. Afghanistan, yes, Iraq, no.). And of course, I hadn’t seen him say this since I refused to listen to a word he said, or even read it. Anyway, the actual clip of what Bush said comes very early in the following video:

Yes, President Bush was absolutely right, and prescient, about what would happen in Iraq. Everything he forewarned has now come to pass, sadly. His former Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, added to the discussion of what is going on in the Middle East now, and the failures of the Obama Administration in dealing with ISIS and other Islamist terrorist groups.

But I am not the only one who needs to eat crow. The other person, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is having to eat some crow after making inflammatory comments about Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker. By now, you have surely heard her comments essentially equating Walker with an abuser. But what many people just slide is that she also referred to him as a “Tea Party Extremist.” Apparently, we are completely willing to accept that definition of this governor who has done great things for his state, a term, “extremist,” that would best be left to discussions of groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and others, than someone who believes in fewer taxes and less government intrusion in the lives of Americans.

In case you haven’t heard what Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, it is int he video below, along with the text of her “apology.” But the video also includes the respoinse by Gov. Walker’s Lt. Gov., Rebecca Kleefisch, on both the comments, and the “apology,” from Debbie Wasserman Schultz as well as the Democratic candidate running for Governor in Wisconsin. To the video now:

Lt Gov. Kleefisch is absolutely right – this was not an apology by Rep. Wasserman Schultz. She clearly needs to learn how to eat crow. Her comments were off the charts horrible, not the least of which because she was wrong on oh-so-many levels in terms of the work Gov. Walker has done on behalf of women, especially in terms of domestic violence. That Rep. Wasserman Schultz would continue to make the claim that Gov. Walker is “bad for women” is evidence itself that she has no desire to pull back on the hideous comments she made.

But again, no one is calling her on the “Tea Party Extremist” comment goes unnoticed. That is just wrong. The entire tirade was way out of bounds. That this Administration continues to have her as the mouthpiece for the Democratic Party says it all.

But there is one more person who needs to eat crow, and take some responsibility, along with his higher ups. That would be the CIA officer in Benghazi who ordered the Security team to stand down. Bret Baier broke this news on his Thursday night program, and will be having another Benghazi Special Friday evening, “13 Hours,” at 10:00pm dealing with this issue more fully. But what we learned from the three security team members Thursday night was startling, and appalling. That was particularly the case when they acknowledged that lives would have been spared, including our Ambassador’s, had the team acted when they were ready. If you did not see the clip from Thursday night, it is below:

It is impossible to watch this and not be affected by what these men saw, and the impact of their claims especially the claim about the lives that could have been saved.

Yes, that CIA officer, and those who directed him, not only need to eat crow, but to be held to account for their actions, or lack thereof. That means the higher ups at the State Department, and in the Administration.

At least that’s what I think. How about you?

Feel free to talk about any of this, or the other issues of the day. This is an Open Thread.

20 Responses to “Eating Crow *Open Thread*”

I could repeat everything you said about yourself when you were a Demacrat and point at myself. I find it difficult to believe that was me. How could I have been so obtuse? How could I have been so dishonest?

I will never be a big Bush fan because I will never think that invading Iraq was the right thing to do. But once there we owed it to those who fought and died, those who were maimed and those who fought there to finish what we started. Obama didn’t end the war in Iraq – he ended the chance to come out of Iraq with a win. And for what? Politics.

I believe that George Bush has acted in a very classy manner since leaving office. I also believe that he genuinely loves this country and cares about the military. I don’t believe Obama is capable of acting with class and dignity. And I don’t believe he cares about anything except himself.

I will always be ashamed that I allowed myself to be bamboozled for so many years. But I am also proud that unlike many of my friends and relatives, I finally woke up. And I damn well intend to stay awake as regards both the left and the right!

Outstanding comment, Marge! And I concur with your assessment of both Bush AND Obama. I agree with your point abt the war, and the need to stay for a win not leave for political gain.

And especially, I agree that while Bush will never be my favorite person, he does seem to genuinely love this country, want what is best for it, and cares deeply abt the military. Now that I have taken off the blinders, I am able to appreciate a lot of the things that both he and Laura did during his time in office abt which I never knew, like his work in Africa, their work for women in Afghanistan, both of which continue to this day, and the very clear support for our military and veterans. I cannot IMAGINE Obama and Michelle going to the airport to welcome home soldiers without alerting the press that they are going to do so, just going as citizens of the country with no hoopla. Heck, I didn’t know that when Bush was president he was going to Walter Reed to visit the injured soldiers without doing so for political gain.

Anyway, right there with you – glad I woke up, even when most of my family and some friends refuse to look past the letter at the end of someone’s name.

As you noted in yesterday’s post, we may have thought life would be easier when we got older, but one thing is for sure, we are wide awake for what is happening now, and that is a good thing indeed…

Ditto and ditto. In reflection I can only think I was brainwashed not to question my own positions and those of the Democrats I so enthusiastically embraced. I actually hated Richard Nixon more than George Bush, but I too laughed at Bush’s Texas accent.

Marge is so right in her observations that George Bush has acted with class since leaving office AND about Obama not being able to act with class and dignity. It’s just not in him and neither is it in Michelle Obama. Two completely classless acts.

As for Debbie Wasserman Schultz…what can one say about that loose cannon. I was very involved in the feminist movement as a young woman. I grew up in a time when the job ads in the newspapers were segregated by Male and Female. I went to college but was encouraged to follow the acceptable job path of teacher. I remember when birth control was against the law. These were REAL issues. We didn’t need to fabricate boogey men who “give the back of their hand to women” just for political party advantage.

During “the” presidential nomination process I went to a speech by the national leader of NOW and all she wanted to talk about were UNIONS! The possibility of the first woman president seemed to have escaped her. I look on what passes for current day feminism and shake my head.

Katherine, yes – you are spot on. I don’t know where I got that unwavering devotion to the Dems. My mom was a registered Republican for years, even if she voted Dem. My dad was a Dem., but his sister, my aunt, was a Rep. So heaven only knows where I got such a strident devotion to the DNC, but yes – ‘brainwashed” is a good way to put it, and I can see how that continues to this day with the DNC. It’s the emotional hook they continue to use, and use to manipulate, like the poor, women, minorities, and on and on and on. But I don’t need to tell you that.

And right there with you on the Feminist movement. Heck, I helped form the first chapter of NOW in my hometown when I was only 17. I was into it big time, marched, protested, the whole nine yards. But EVERYTHING for which we worked is the exact OPPOSITE of what women, feminists, now claim they want. I know I have said this a lot, but I simply cannot fathom how so-called feminists now want women to be DEPENDENT on the Government.

Heck, since when did DEMOCRATS want to be dependent on the government? When did Dems stop being the people who pushed the meme, “QUESTION AUTHORITY!” to the ones who demand e NOT question authority, and look to the government to take care of all of our needs?? When in the hell did this happen?! I just do not get it. Again, proof to me that I didn’t leave the party – the party left me, and I am thankful I got off that train.

As for your experience with the president of NOW, good grief. That really says it all, doesn’t it? Wow…

I also look at “modern” feminism with a jaundiced eye. I thought it was supposed to be about women not just women of a certain political persuasion.

The straw that broke this camel’s back was the image of Obama on the cover of Ms. Magazine wearing a tee shirt that said “this is what a feminist looks like”. I was too stunned to even be outraged for several minutes. That ended any respect I had for the so-called feminists who are nothing but liberals in feminist clothing.

I really wish that women supported women more. Yet how can I support or even respect someone like DWS? Just because we share a gender?

Ugh, did you HAFTA put that up?? I was infuriated when Ms. had this cover. I used to get Ms., heck, I went to hear Gloria Steinem speak, but it was clear as day that the “feminists” cared much less for all women’s equality than for certain ones, as you noted, but also far less abt supporting the more qualified candidate if there was a “cute” man on the scene. When all those women, from Steinem to Ensler, were propping up Obama, ignoring that he didn’t pay women on his staff what he paid men, or his calling women reporters, “sweetie,” or the arrogant manner in which he treated Hillary, and on and on, to prop him up. Just appalling.

Yeah, I don’t recognize this “Feminism” at all. Looks to me like we have gone back decades under Obama and the Dems, on both women AND race.

I need to see that cover every now and then to rev my engines. And rev them it does. I also used to get Ms. and now for the life of me I cannot remember one thing about it that I liked or that I learned. I guess I am living proof that you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

Well, when you put it like THAT… 😀 Good point! And LOL abt teaching an old dog. I guess that goes for most of us here and our learning how we had been bamboozled for so long and being able to change. 🙂

is anyone watching the interview with the 3 men on the ground at Benghazi?
I am in tears and have never been so angry at losers in office now. there has to be a special place in hell for the backtrack bunch

I watched it and found it a searing indictment of an Administration that always puts politics before country. These men are heroes. The government that let them down is scum. And that most certainly includes Hillary Clinton and her b.s. about a tape over the coffins of the fallen.

Helen, I dvr’ed it and will watch it today. I was so beat by that time last night (my knees were killing me and sucking the energy right out of me). Just the part they had on Special Report was disturbing and upsetting enough – I can only imagine the effect of the entire program.

Marge, I know you are right, though. That has been the true hallmark of this Administration. And those who support Clinton anyway, after she could stand by and cover for Obama rather than do the right thing, says loads abt them.

One more thing – the attacks already pouring out from Dems against these men who were literally IN the fight is appalling. Their Party Over Country, attacking true heroes to make themselves look better, dismissing what they went through, and essentially calling them liars, makes them mighty low in my book…

I believe that those Dems who attack these men will do themselve more harm than good. As for those who support the attackers, there is NOTHING on the face the earth that will convince them that their party is wrong. Such willful blindness, aka stupidity, is the hallmark of the indoctrinated.

The left doesn’t seem to understand that this isn’t still the sixties. Attacking the military and those who serve is no longer “fashionable”.

Isn’t it ironic that the party that was going to sweep us into a brave new world seems determined to drag us back into the old one?

I wonder if Trey Gowdy has talked to these 3 men. Him being the smart prosecutor that he is, I suspect he has done just that. The evidence is piling up against the Obama Administration, Hillary most definately included, and all that could possibly save them is their co-conspirators in the media.

I am guessing he has and that is one of the reasons they pushed so hard for this hearing. They knew what these guys had done, what they had seen, and what they knew. There are more of them, of course, that the government has hidden away from us, forced to sign non-disclosure agreements, and all of that. Really does make it clear the extent this government is willing to go, and that scares the hell out of me.